A's find a way again / Eighth-inning rally adds to historic run

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, August 6, 2005

Photo: CHARLIE RIEDEL

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Oakland Athletics first baseman Dan Johnson follows through after hitting a two-run homerun during the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals Friday, Aug. 5, 2005 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) less

Oakland Athletics first baseman Dan Johnson follows through after hitting a two-run homerun during the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals Friday, Aug. 5, 2005 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie ... more

Photo: CHARLIE RIEDEL

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Oakland Athletics starter Kirk Saarloos delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals on Friday, Aug. 5, 2005, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Oakland Athletics starter Kirk Saarloos delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals on Friday, Aug. 5, 2005, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Photo: CHARLIE RIEDEL

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Kansas City Royals shortstop Angel Berroa throws to first for a double play after forcing Oakland Athletics' Nick Swisher out at second base to end the third inning Friday, Aug. 5, 2005 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) less

Kansas City Royals shortstop Angel Berroa throws to first for a double play after forcing Oakland Athletics' Nick Swisher out at second base to end the third inning Friday, Aug. 5, 2005 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP ... more

With a 5-4 comeback victory over the Royals, Oakland became the first team since the 1965 Pirates to go from 15 games under .500 to 15 games over . 500 in the same season.

"It's two totally different seasons, really," A's starter Kirk Saarloos said. "That (15 games under) was probably the lowest baseball-wise a lot of us have ever been. We were just losing all the time, it wasn't fun at all. ... Now we're finding ways to win. That's kind of the A's M.O., to play well the second half. Everyone had us buried, but it's a testament to everyone in here that we stayed the course."

Only one team, the 1914 Boston Braves, has come from 15 games below .500 to make the playoffs. With the victory, the A's remained three games ahead of the Yankees in the American League wild-card standings.

"We kind of set goals along the way," said Oakland first baseman Dan Johnson, who homered for the third straight game in the sixth inning. "First it was to get back to .500, and then it was to try to catch the next team in the division, Texas, and take off from there. Then we set our sights on the Angels. So it was little by little, piece by piece. It didn't seem like so much. Whoever's next, just chase them down."

They've shown a lot of grit in doing so, even on the day-to-day level. By scoring twice in the eighth inning Friday, the A's upped their total of comeback victories to 33, the most in the major leagues.

Oakland trailed by as much as 4-1 after Saarloos gave up four runs in the fifth, including a two-run homer by John Buck.

"That's a game we lose in April or May," Saarloos said. "But now we've got a chance to win every night."

By the time the game was over, Saarloos had watched the video and analyzed his problematic fifth and decided that an errant cut fastball was to blame. He was under the ball too much, and it was flat and straight. Every hit in the inning except one came on a cutter.

"I was like, 'Geez, what happened?' It was like bang, bang, bang," Saarloos said. "I was gone before I could think about it."

Saarloos, who usually gets five or even six days between starts, was working on normal rest for a starter, four days, but he didn't think that had anything to do with his one bad inning.

His replacement, Joe Kennedy, hadn't pitched since July 27, but eight days off didn't bother him. A starter with Colorado most of the year, Kennedy approached the layoff like an extra bit of time between starts, and he appeared sharp and ready.

The only hit off Kennedy (2-0) in his 21/3 innings was a soft bloop RBI single by Matt Stairs, the first man he faced. Then Jay Witasick, who came over from the Rockies with Kennedy in the Eric Byrnes deal, pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.

Huston Street finished with a perfect ninth that featured a slick barehanded play by third baseman Chavez, who picked up a slow roller on the infield grass by Angel Berroa and got the fast runner at first despite a sore shoulder.

Street's save was his 13th, the most by an Oakland rookie, topping Rollie Fingers' mark of 12 in 1969.

Saarloos credited the bullpen for keeping the team in the game and giving them a chance to win, but it was the patience of the A's hitters in the eighth that really did the trick. Three walks -- by Nick Swisher, Chavez, and Johnson -- set the table for the rally.

"Day in and day out, you're going to see guys doing whatever they can to get back into the ballgame," Johnson said. "That's the mentality of this team."

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